What crucial step differentiates Matcha production after drying the shade-grown Tencha leaves?

Answer

Their stems and veins are meticulously removed before the final stone-grinding into a fine powder

While Matcha production shares the heavy shading technique with Gyokuro, the subsequent processing diverges significantly. The shade-grown leaves are first dried flat, resulting in material known as *Tencha*. The critical step following drying is the careful separation and removal of all stems and veins from the leaf material. Once this detritus is removed, the remaining pure leaf is subjected to the final stage: slow stone-grinding. Because the drinker ultimately consumes the entire resulting fine powder, Matcha delivers a highly concentrated amount of compounds like L-theanine and caffeine.

What crucial step differentiates Matcha production after drying the shade-grown Tencha leaves?
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